A family is in mourning after a mother of four was struck by an SUV and died while trying to cross the street in southwest Houston.

The family said they are dumbfounded after the driver who hit 38-year-old Patricia Rodriguez just took off.

"We think she was maybe just visiting some friends out there, we don't know who she was out there with," sister Torie Castenada said.

Patricia was apparently trying to cross the street on Fondren when an SUV slammed into her Saturday night.

"This person had to have known that they hit a person," Castenada said.

Police say the driver of a maroon Nissan Murano initially stopped but then left the scene.

A witness was able to get a partial license plate with the letters JB. But for the Rodriguez family, it's like a nightmare all over again. They said they lost their father in a hit and run three years ago.

The person who killed their father wasn't caught, and the family now fears the same thing will happen in Patricia's case.

"My family would love for them to just turn themselves in. It could've been an accident, we don't know how lit up it was," Castenada said.